Islam forbids anything that inflicts harm on people and this includes eating carrion, blood and other harmful substances. This is in accordance with the hadith: “There should be neither harm nor reciprocating harm.”
Therefore, it is compulsory for a Muslim to keep away from foodstuffs that are harmful, especially since lawful food is plentiful and easily purchased.
Focusing more on the issue of genetically modified food, we’d like to cite for you the following:
“The issue of Genetically Modified (GM) Food is one of the most important issues of our age. Our physical and spiritual well-being is being compromised for the sake of big business. These engineered crops are already being grown over millions of acres worldwide and can cross-pollinate with normal varieties. The environment is being mistaken for an experimental playground, a mistake that is creating unrecallable damage to the web of life.
We are told that GM is just a precise extension of natural breeding and that these manipulated ‘foods’ can help solve the world hunger problem. We are told that these ‘foods’ can help solve nutritional deficiencies, and anyone who gets in the way is accused of scare-mongering, of being ‘anti-science’ and of condemning millions to starvation …
If we look at the facts, however, we find something quite interesting. The scientific facts tell us that genetic modification disrupts the normal expression of genes, resulting in potentially toxic effects. The facts tell us that many eminent scientists are actually against the release of GM foods into the environment and into the food-chain. The facts tell us that this technology is not being used to solve world hunger; but to increase dependency on multinationals. The facts tell us that the claims pushed forward to justify GM foods are designed to act as a global smoke-screen whilst the technology is used to satisfy an insatiable desire for wealth and power, created out of a lack of identification with higher values.
Not only is a large proportion of the worlds food supply in danger of being genetically manipulated, but scientific tests are showing that pollen from already existing GM crops is cross-fertilizing conventional ones. This means that it may soon be impossible to find any natural food. Action is therefore needed – and we must act fast. We encourage you to join the millions of people worldwide, and help to push for a total ban on the use of genetically modified organisms in food and farming. At the same time, we urge politicians to utilize safe & integrated solutions to help solve national and global problems.”
Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi, President of the Islamic Society of North America, states: “This subject is still being studied and there is no conclusive evidence until this time to consider such food haram (unlawful). Use it if it is healthy or avoid it to be more careful. The Islamic position is that a food is haram if it contains anything that is haram. But if the chemical change has completely altered the nature of haram substance then it becomes permissible. The second point of consideration is the affects of such food. Would that cause any harm to the human being if it is consumed in a small or big quantity? Allah has allowed only halal and healthy things (halalan tayyiban, al-Baqarah 2:168; al-Ma’idah 5:88).